Thu Dec 26 14:55:24 UTC 2024: ## NBWL Team to Inspect Kerala Settlements for Possible Exclusion from Protected Areas
**KOCHI, December 26, 2024** – A three-member National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) team will inspect Thattekad Bird Sanctuary and settlements within the Periyar Tiger Reserve this week. The inspection follows a Kerala state government request to remove human settlements from these protected areas.
The team, comprising wildlife expert R. Sukumar, R. Raghu Prasad (Inspector General of Wildlife), and Pramod G. Krishnan (Chief Wildlife Warden of Kerala), will visit Thattekad on December 27th and the Periyar Tiger Reserve on December 28th.
Residents of the settlements have long protested restrictions imposed by wildlife laws, urging the government to de-notify their areas. The Kerala State board had previously recommended excluding approximately 5.02 sq km from the Pampa Valley/Angel Valley settlements in the tiger reserve, while proposing boundary adjustments for the Thattekad Bird Sanctuary, involving the exclusion of 897.25 ha of inhabited land and the addition of 1,016.94 ha of forest area. The recommendations also include the exclusion of three private enclosures.
The NBWL’s standing committee will review the inspection team’s findings at a meeting likely to be held next month.
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